


The Making of a Champion

by virgo_writer



Series: Sixteen-by-Eight Feet [8]
Category: Make It or Break It
Genre: F/M, Family, Father-Daughter Relationship, Fluff, Future Fic, Gen, Gymnastics
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-07-29
Updated: 2012-07-29
Packaged: 2020-09-01 20:18:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20263948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/virgo_writer/pseuds/virgo_writer
Summary: Kim Keeler felt a wave of nostalgia as she walked through the double doors of East Seattle Athletic. 16x8 Universe. Payson/Sasha





	The Making of a Champion

_March 2029_

Kim Keeler felt a wave of nostalgia as she walked through the double doors of East Seattle Athletic, one of the most revered gymnastics training facilities in the country. It had been years since she’d been back in a gym like this – decades even – but it was like nothing had changed but the location. There was the same bustle of activity – movement everywhere with death defying tricks each way she looked.

And the thing that had changed the least – or maybe the most – was the man standing in the centre of it all, arms crossed stoically over his chest as he carefully observed one of his gymnasts' run through of her floor routine. There was a familiar intensity in his hardened expression, and he held his position so tightly that Kim wondered if he was even breathing. It was like stepping back in time, as though she’d stepped through a wormhole straight into The Rock nearly 20 years earlier. He barked out an order – some skill that needed to be repeated a dozen more times until it looked effortless and completely without fault – before turning away to see to something else.

And suddenly the Sasha Belov of two decades ago was gone. His expression changed completely, and it was like looking at a new Sasha that Kim had only seen glimpses of on a few occasions during his time at The Rock. But the expression was a familiar one now – as familiar to her as the intense scrutiny she’d seen earlier.

“Can I go on the beam now, _ Tătic _ _ ?” _ her granddaughter asked him, the eagerness in her blue-green eyes obvious even from where Kim had stopped by the entrance to take in the heartwarming scene.

“I did promise you, didn’t I?” he replied warmly, stooping to take her in his arms. She reflected his smile, wrapping her arms around his neck as he carried her over to where the beams were situated.

“I’m totally done here, Sasha, if you want this one,” one of the girls on the beam offered, stepping off the apparatus without completing her proper dismount. Sasha gave her a sceptical look, but didn’t argue while he had a rather impatient three year old in his arms.

“I want to see your routine in its entirety when I’m done, Courtney,” he told the gymnast seriously, dismissing her for the time being. She nodded, happy to watch from the sidelines as Sasha and Daciana played on the apparatus.

All else seemed forgotten as Sasha swung his daughter in a wide and landed her on the beam. “An impressive quadruple twisting backwards Arabian standing mount from Daciana Belov,” he said, doing his best impression of the now infamous American commentating trio. Daciana giggled happily through the action, her smile even brighter than before as she beamed up at her father.

She turned serious once in place, seeming so much like Payson did when she was doing her gymnastics. In some ways, Daciana seemed to Kim the least like Payson of her three children – she was dark where Payson was fair, and bright and always smiling where Payson had been so serious even at a young age. And yet here, taking to the balance beam like a fish to water, there was no doubt on her parentage.

Sasha watched with a proud expression, hovering close by in case she lost her balance, but knowing she wouldn’t need him. Daciana was a natural, performing relatively simple moves, but doing each with as much grace and precision as someone who had been doing it for years. Sasha helped her where necessary, holding her waist through a forward walkover and then back the other way. 

At the end he lifted her over his shoulder, flipping her upside down in a pseudo-somersault, which he declared to be a perfect Gainer salto with a full twist. Courtney, who still close by, applauded as she stuck the landing, and Daciana gave a practiced salute to the gymnast, blowing a kiss to her adoring public. 

Kim joined in the applause without thinking, still standing in the entrance as she watched the whole routine. “That was incredible, Darcy,” she called, her voice warm with the pride she felt any time she saw her grandchildren.

Daciana turned at her words, excitement lighting her eyes.

“Nana!” she greeted happily, racing towards Kim without a thought for any obstacles in her way. Luckily, Sasha was watching closely, and pulled her into his arms before a near collision could take place between Daciana and one of the gymnasts racing down the vault runway obstructing Daciana’s direct path to her grandmother. The vaulting gymnast was so focused on the task at hand that he hadn’t even noticed the three year old almost running into his path.

“Now, Daci,” Sasha began in an admonishing tone. “What have I told you about crossing the mats?”

Daciana looked terribly contrite, her big green eyes blinking rapidly as she looked up at Sasha with a sorrowful pout, “_ Îmi pare rău, tată. ” _

“I know you are, Munchkin,” Sasha replied, looking sorry for being so grumpy with her. “I just don’t want to see you get hurt, _puiule_.” 

She nodded as he shifted her in his arms, situating her on his hip so she could rest her head against his shoulder. He pressed a kiss to her hair, which seemed to turn darker by the day, before taking the long way around the vault to meet Kim at the door.

“Does Payson know that you’re already indoctrinating her baby into the world of gymnastics?” Kim asked, only half-teasing as she sent her son-in-law a dubious look.

Sasha shook his head, letting out a laugh as he handed over the little girl in question to her grandmother. “It’s not indoctrination,” he protested. “We were just playing. Weren’t we, Daci?”

Daciana nodded her affirmation, smiling brightly at Kim. “_Tătic _and I play gymnastics all the time," she assured her grandmother, which really did nothing to assuage her father's guiltiness. 

Kim sent Sasha another knowing look, not terribly surprised by Daciana's account. “We’ll see you later,” she said eventually seeing as Sasha refused to crumble under her scrutiny. “Payson said not to stay too late – she’s doing stuffed peppers for dinner.”

“I’ll be another hour, tops,” Sasha promised, giving his daughter a quick kiss to her forehead before bidding them farewell.

And then he was back to the man she’d seen earlier – stoic, unerring, intense. But she could see, just beneath the surface, the man that he’d become– husband, father, and friend – and she couldn’t help but think of what a loss it would have been if Sasha Belov hadn’t walked into The Rock twenty years ago.

Kim smiled warmly down at her granddaughter, the youngest of three, and ran a hand against her fine brown hair. Curiosity getting the better of her, she felt compelled to ask:

“So what do you and your daddy do when you ‘play gymnastics’?” 

**Author's Note:**

> Translation:
> 
> Tătic: Daddy  
Îmi pare rău, tată: I'm sorry, Dad  
puiule: cub


End file.
